Railway-switch guard



UNITED STATES,

PATENT omens.

MATTHEW J. 'MCNAMARA, or sonAN'roN,

IPENNSYLVANIA, ASSIGNOR v OF ONE-.HALF

T0 JAMES R. FLEMING, or s'oRANToN, PENNSYLVANIA.

RAILWAY-SWITCH GUARD.

Application filed May 12,

T 0 all who lit it may concern ""Be it known that I, MATTHEW J. Mo- N AMA A, a citizen of the United States, and a resident of Scranton, in the county of ,Lackawanna and State of. Pennsylvania,

haveinvented certain new and useful Improvements in Railway-Switch-Guards, bf

which the following is a full, clear, and exact description.

Among the objects which the present invention has in view are: to reduce the wear on the ends of switch rails; to avoid wean '7 ing the extremities of switch rails to a cut: ting edge; to reduce-the shock'of impact on switch rails; and. to accomplish the above named purposes cheaply, and easily.

Drwwings.

Description. Heretofore switch rails having wedge} shaped ends such as indicated by the numeral 7 in Figure 1 of the drawings, have been badly worn in service by the flange 8 of a wheel 9, which in service tends to hug the inner side of the head 10' of the railway rails. 10 in the manner referred to, the turning effort of the rail has been borne by the thin edge of the switch rail 7 The grind of repeated wheels has heretofore worn the switch rail and the thin edge thereof to a knife edge, which in a short time impairs the usefulness of the'rail. The result of this practice has. been that the life of the switch I rail has been commensurate with the resistance to the wear of the thin edge of the extremity of the said .rail, which necessarily has been, and remains, the weakest portion of the structure.

To avoid this wear the present invention provides a guard plate 11. The plate 11' has an upper outwardly curved surface 12",

Specification of Letters Patent.

' position of the plate.

Huggingthe side of the head.

Patented Aug. 22, 1922. 1921. Serial No. 468,892.

.which is rounded'over to approximate the shape of the head 10 of the railway rail. At

the ends of the plate rounded or chamfered corners 13 are provi ed to receive the impact of the flange 8'and thrust the same laterally to separate'it from the inner side of the head. When the flange is moved 'thus, and as shownbes't in Figure 2 of the drawings, it is held by the straight side of Q the plate 11, so that when .it, reaches the same it first contacts with the switch rail at a point approximately that indicated by the numeral 14 or at apoint back from the entry edge of the rail. This section of the rail is much better adapted'to resist the wear incident. to the repeated impact of the wheels in traffic.

The plates 11 are made of suitable mater1al,'and are shaped to conform with the head 10 of the railway rail, a recess 15 being formed in theupper end of the plate 11 to conform to the side of the said head. A suitable number of bolt holes. are formed -in the plate 11 to receive the fastening bolts 16, the heads 17 whereof rest in a channel plate 18, which is shaped to conform to the spact between the flange web and head of the railway rail. Space blocks 19 are introduced between the plate 11 and the web of the railway rail to hold the plate 11 in the desired position with reference to the shape of the rail with which it is associated, and with reference to the desired service It is ob'ious that when the plate 11 is in service position in front of switchrails 7, the various wheels of the train as the same, approach the switch rail are shifted laterally so that the flange 8 of each of the wheels first strikes the rail 7 at a point removed from the fine edge thereof.

1. The combination of a railway rail; a

swinging switch rail having a reduced entry.

end; and a guard member secured in service on the, side of the railway rail in advance of the switch rail, said member having an inclined surface for engaging the flange of a railway wheel toshift the same toward the center of a railway track.

. 2. -The combination. of a railway rail,a

* swinging switch rail having a reduced entry end; a guard plate shaped to conform to the side of the rail; and means for removably securing the plate in service position on said rail, said means embodying a plurality of bolts, and a spacing block for interposition between said plate and said rail for altering the service disposition of said plate.

MATTHEW J. MONAMARA. 

